Standing Here Until You Make Me Move
by ever
Summary: okay i am about to attempt a summary... this is about Ton, no actually it's more about Walter, but Ton too and yeah so it's about how Walter and Ton test the bonds of brother and sister and yeah that's it for my summary, please read and review and be pr


Standing here until you make me move is a line in a song by Lifehouse called Hanging by a Moment  
  
Standing Here Until You Make Me Move  
By: 4ever  
Featuring the Philadelphia Newsies...  
  
He staggered drunkenly into the alley. Another night, another brawl, one more foot of the pit he was digging for himself, Walter thought. Suddenly a figure appeared. Walter cringed with the thought of a bookee coming to collect his long overdue payments.  
"Are you spoiling for a fight Walt?" It was Isaac. Walter relaxed and tried to pull himself up into a standing position. "Because I know some people who would be happy to oblige you," Isaac said, helping Walter up.  
"Ton is really mad?"  
"I'm really mad."  
"Did she send you?"  
"You didn't hear me the first time. I came on my own."  
"Oh."  
"I can't believe your doing this. You're throwing your life away. I thought you said it was going to be different once you became a newsie."  
"I thought it would be too." Isaac looked at him expectantly. "I've got someplace to be," Walter said, turning away.  
"Yeah, you've had someplace to be for the last two days."  
"I've gotta go. See you around."  
Isaac sighed and hung his head. Ton wasn't going to be happy. The trouble had all started a couple of weeks after the strike. Isaac partially blamed himself. He had been so caught up with Sun and Rebecca that he hadn't noticed his friend returning to his old ways. Then Walter had started to stay out later. He had come home with bruises on his face, smelling like beer. People started to drop by looking for him. Only Isaac had known why they wanted him. Things just got worse. Walter started to stay out entire nights and two days ago he had vanished. So Isaac had gone out and haunted the usual hang outs. It had taken a little convincing of the knuckle sandwhich kind to get one of the bookees to squeal. The guy told Isaac that Walter was staying at some abandoned apartment building with some guys from his old group. Isaac had found the place and tracked Walter to the bar. Now it was all for nothing.  
Isaac arrived at the lodging house quicker than he expected to. He entered it quickly so as not to let the cold in and started to shed his outer garments.  
"Where were you?" a suspicious voice asked.  
Isaac looked up and smiled at Sun, but her face didn't change.  
"Nowhere,"he said. She looked down. Isaac noticed the ends of her mouth twisted into an expression of unsatisfaction. He didn't know if it was with herself or him. He smiled and came to put his arm around her. "It was nothing, honest."  
She forced a smile onto her face. "Did you go to look for Walter?" Isaac took a step back. He hadn't expected her to guess. "I hope you had better luck that me and Ton." Isaac nodded his head and forced a grim smile onto his face. "You better go talk to her," Sun said.  
Isaac nodded again and went up the stairs.  
The bunkroom was lit up, but it's usual carefree laughter was missing. In it's place was the tense and forced cheerfulness that had sprung in consideration for their friend. "Hey Ton," Isaac got right to the point. "Can I talk to you?"  
She nodded and followed him out of the room and down the stairs. Sun had vanished. Isaac sighed and prepared to do it alone. "I went looking for Walter."  
Ton nodded and waited expectantly. Isaac paused to wonder if Walter had actually thought of what he was doing to his sister.   
"I found him at a bar."  
"He's slipped into his old habits," Ton said, definitely. Isaac sighed. He had thought that he would have to explain to Ton all about Walter's "old" habits. He was relieved she already knew about them. "Probably's run up debts with every bookee and bar in town," Ton said. She closed her eyes to hold the tears that threatened to come. He had promised her this wouldn't happen again. That had been her condition on letting him into the lodging house. Now, not only was he going to put her through torture, but also all her friends and Smudge's parents. She shook her head. The newsies were tough they could fight if the bookees tried to threaten them. She remembered a time long ago. Maybe that had been what had triggered the first time Walter tried to reform himself. What could she do this time? Why was he doing this? "What was the address of his building?"  
Isaac looked suprised, but gave her the street and number anyway. "He probably won't be there long. He's got to move you know."  
"Yeah I know. I'll act fast."  
"Do you want help? It could be dangerous. I can call Sun and it won't be a big deal..." Isaac trailed off.  
Ton shook her head. "No thanks," she said. "Don't wait up for me."   
Yeah right, Isaac thought. Sun was going to freak out at him for letting Ton go alone. He would just have to restrain her from marching after Ton, but whatever happened he knew Ton would have someone waiting for her when she got back. He sighed and went up to the roof, where he knew he could find Sun, to go and get yelled at.  
Ton walked quickly. It was cold out and she wanted to find her brother fast. She didn't know what she was going to say to him. Several times she tried to formulate words in her mind, but they never came out right. They never said everything that she wanted to and as she walked her step started to slow as she got less and less sure that she had the words to make her brother come home. Finally she was at the building. It was dark except for one light in a room on the second floor. Ton carefully opened the door. The lock obviously hadn't worked in several years. She tried to be quiet, but the floorboards creaked with her every move and she could just imagine the shadows jumping out at her. Finally she reached the stairway and put her foot on the first step.  
"Who's there?!" A voice came from behind her. She turned around  
"It's me Ton, Walt's sister."  
"Yeah I know you," the boy gave her a nod and vanished inside the room. Ton recognized him as one of the friends Walter used to hang around with. She waited a minute, expecting him to send someone out, but no one came. She turned back to try and go up the steps. The house was dark and Ton couldn't believe that she had actually turned down Isaac's offer. She also began to envision a very worried and distressed Sun. Then she started thinking about the other newsies. What if Isaac told them too? Ton stopped and leaned against the wall. Why couldn't she do this? She started to sink down and the strange and painful feeling in the pit of her stomach began to consume her.  
"Ton?" She looked up the steps and saw no one and then she looked down and saw Walter. He came up and sat down next to her. The steps were dark and Ton thought about how she craved some light right now. Just enought to see Walter's face and know what he was thinking. "Ton what are you doing here?" he said. His voice was tender and concerned, not angry at all. He put his arm around her. He didn't smell like beer or anything, but Ton sensed from the stiffness of his movements that he had been involved in a fight lately.  
"Walter, please come home." It was all that came out. She said in this voice which wasn't pleading. It was sad. Tears started to fall down her cheeks and she could feel a catch in her throat.   
"Ton, I...." He held her tightly. "I'm sorry," he said.  
"If you were sorry you wouldn't have done it," Ton said, still crying.  
"I'm sorry. I know it's not enough. I know it will never be enough, but let me give it anyway."  
"If you would just try to do something, to stop this..."  
"I know."  
"Walter," Ton said, her voice finally under control. "You may not think that you're worth enough to try and save yourself. You may not have thought that mom and dad were enough to try and save yourself, but please do it for me."  
"It's not that easy." He got up and went downstairs into the room. Ton sat there for several moments. Then she got up and with firmness that she hadn't even known was in herself she walked into the room. Walter had turned the light on and now she could see around. On the floor there were four or five dirty mattressess that must have served for beds. There were three or four boys in the room, besides Walter.  
"Walter, you may give up on yourself, but I'm not giving up on you. I'm standing here until you come home and if you want me to move then you're going to have to make me."  
Walter looked suprised and slightly shocked that his sister was doing this. Suddenly the boy who had come out before said," Gosh you've got a pushy sister." Ton's face turned red, but she never stopped her the blaze in her eyes. She turned to look at the boy that had spoken. She faintly remembered his name being Peter. His eyes met hers and in a moment of total confusion in Ton's mind, she saw the flash of some emotion in them. It looked like a mix of care, tenderness, and jealousy. She turned back to Walter. He hadn't moved since she had come into the room. Peter got up. "I'd listen to her if I were you," he said.  
Walter looked at Peter, dubioulsy. Peter was firm. Ton wasn't sure why he was doing this, but at that moment she was so thankful. Walter stooped to a mattress that Ton assumed had been his. She though that he was going to lie down. If he did Ton was absolutely sure she would not be able to keep standing. She would probably have collapsed right there. Walter bent down and from under his mattress retrieved an old tattered bag. Ton drew her breath in.  
"Okay, let's try this again," he said. Ton let her breath out. He came and put his arm around her and they left the room and the building. Peter smiled and watched them go.  
"What was that?" another one of the boys asked. Peter shook his head, but he fell asleep that night with a smile.  
Walter and Ton walked home hand in hand. They had a lot to talk about and resolve, but Ton's heart was singing. Then they came to the lodging house. Isaac and Sun were waiting for them. Immediately Isaac came forward to take Walter's hand.  
"Glad to have you back," Isaac said. Walter smiled and a little twinge in his heart made him think of another good friend that he had somewhere not so far away. Sun was smiling and Ton was smiling and Isaac was smiling. Then, suddenly Walter found himself smiling uncontrolably. It seemed to come from some unknown spring of joy in heart that had just burst forth. Ton yawned.  
"I'm beat," she said.   
"All that standing," Walter said. Ton smiled as Sun and Isaac gave each other dubious looks. 


End file.
